Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Mar 21, 2013 Athena Shardbearer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, buddy-read, darkfantasy, own, paperback

Fantasy Buddy Read/Group Discussion ...more

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Dec 23, 2016 James Schmidt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My review today is for My review today is for Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

Where to start on a review for this book/series? I mean with something on the epic scale and imagination as this story, characters, and world building. The Mythology of the world alone is on such a epic scale. So much to comprehend. I guess that brings me to my only complaint, so much info, in so short of a time. But hey I can handle it.

All I have been hearing since I started reading Fantasy again in 2011 is “you ...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Robin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I have heard a lot of good things about this series. There is certainly a lot going on in 'Gardens of the Moon,' but stories of the many individuals involved are so splintered that they are difficult to follow. I am disappointed with the characterization—one fellow seems so much like the other(s) that they were confusing. We join in the middle of the story (which is good), and although I applaud the lack of long passages of exposition, the reader is a stranger in a very strange world and critica I have heard a lot of good things about this series. There is certainly a lot going on in 'Gardens of the Moon,' but stories of the many individuals involved are so splintered that they are difficult to follow. I am disappointed with the characterization—one fellow seems so much like the other(s) that they were confusing. We join in the middle of the story (which is good), and although I applaud the lack of long passages of exposition, the reader is a stranger in a very strange world and critical information is withheld, including the various motivations. And what is with giving characters such similar names that we can't remember who is who through this complicated weaving? Most of the names are just plain awful. Worse, they lack any kind of cultural cohesion that might help us keep track.

The aspect of world-building leaves something to be desired. A good part of the problem may be because there are so many names and places and events being tossed around, willy-nilly. The places are so huge that I wondered if the author really knew what a 'league' was. The structure of the magic is only brushed upon—apparently the "warrens" (sources) the mages use have specific flavors/abilities, but that is not reflected in what the mages do with their magic. It is amazing to have so much magic going on and still not really know what happened.

The writing style... goes from 'fair' to 'atrocious' to 'funny.' The characters exchange inside jokes the readers have no way of understanding—or make references to things that make no sense to us outsiders. Was there an editor involved in this process? There are misused words, repetitious words/phrases, terrible punctuation, wildly awkward sentences that never will make sense no matter how often they're reread...

And yet...

The revelation of vast powers at work, political and military maneuvering, and tiny glimpses into the lives of pawns of every social station was just enough to keep me turning the pages, wondering how (and if and when!) problems would be solved. The whole is complicated emotionally by having points of view from the side of the conquerors as well as those being conquered. I've heard that the second book involves the characters better, as opposed to laying out the draft of the juggernaut empire. Here's hoping... ...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Robin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

"Interesting" probably best summarizes this book. This was an incredibly dense, frustrating read, but it was interesting enough that I was compelled to stick with it. Although I still think there are some pretty major issues with this book, I'm glad I completed it.

This is not a very reader-friendly book. Erikson doesn't make much of an effort to clue the reader in on what's going on, and a lot of the story relies on reading between the lines. Every character has their own hidden agendas, and its "Interesting" probably best summarizes this book. This was an incredibly dense, frustrating read, but it was interesting enough that I was compelled to stick with it. Although I still think there are some pretty major issues with this book, I'm glad I completed it.

This is not a very reader-friendly book. Erikson doesn't make much of an effort to clue the reader in on what's going on, and a lot of the story relies on reading between the lines. Every character has their own hidden agendas, and its even trickier when all their intrigues are taking place in a brick-sized "cast of thousands" style epic fantasy. At its worst, it's almost comical, with a number of scenes where unidentified characters meet with named (but completely new) characters, mumble some mysterious portents, and then leaves. After finishing each chapter I read the corresponding section on the TOR website's re-read series, that helped me grasp some of the more opaque bits. I'm usually a pretty fast reader, but I crawled through this book.

Fortunately, the second half of the book is much more engaging than the first. The action became a bit easier to follow, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't have trouble keeping track of all the characters introduced after the move to Darujhistan. As can be expected in the first volume in a lengthy series, this book mainly serves to get the ball rolling. However, enough happens that it still feels like this book has its own plot arc, with a beginning, middle, and end. In the second half, Erikson cuts back a bit on the bricklaying and finally starts to have some fun with things, presenting some pretty exciting scenes. This served as the dessert to the first half of the book's interminable vegetable buffet. The conclusion really opened things up, making me excited about where the series is headed. It was nice that there was some reward for muddling through, I wasn't sure any was forthcoming.

This book (and apparently the series as a whole, from what I've read) is reminiscent of Glen Cook's Black Company and Dread Empire series. The scale is epic, and focuses on both the primary movers and shakers as well as a more humble group of soldiers. Also like Cook's stories, the tone is a tad on the grim side, with lots of moral ambiguity and a lack of a clear delineation between good and evil. That suits me just fine, but some fantasy readers prefer lighter fare. Those readers aren't going to like this book.

Fans of the series praise the author's mason-like plot-building skills, where vague hints and throwaway lines get a big pay-off later on, often in subsequent volumes. That's fine, I respect cleverness and attention to detail, but there's something to be said for readability. Reviews for this book seem to be pretty polarized, with unsatisfied readers who couldn't get through it and others that struggled with this volume, but came to appreciate it a great deal more after reading the rest of the series. I'm hoping I'll be able to join the ranks of the second group of readers, since the ambitious scope of this series is appealing. I like the direction hinted at towards the end of the book, and I've purchased the second volume in the series. However, I think I'm going to read something less challenging for the next book or two.
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Jan 04, 2019 James rated it liked it · review of another edition

Wow, well this one took a while to get into, and I really struggled to work out what was going on for a while. Not helped I suspect by being on holiday and expecting a much simpler read. Keeping all the characters in my head was a challenge, and the author certainly was expecting the reader to do a lot of the work, which for me was a problem early on.

Towards the end of the book the pacing increased dramatically, but the number of insane boss battles, disasters and gods popping up made the whole ...more

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Aug 11, 2023 Tome Addiction rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

An epic fantasy with a large cast of characters. If you love epic fantasy worlds and the continued expansion of a new fantasy world then you have to read this one. This is an example of why I don't read modern fantasy, it's just all too much for me anymore. I am not looking for an epic world of magic with a growing cast of characters. I read Dune which is really Fantasy on Arrakis ant that is epic. Anymore I'm looking for in-and-out stories until I read Rothfuss and now like many still waiting f ...more

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